The Supreme Court turned to two major immigration-related cases yesterday, Nina Totenberg reports for NPR.
First, in a case dating back to a 2010 cross-border killing, the court ruled “that the parents of a Mexican boy shot and killed by a U.S. border patrol agent cannot sue the officer who killed their son.” Second, “the court heard arguments in a free-speech case that will determine whether people who encourage illegal immigrants to remain in the country can be prosecuted.” A decision on the latter is expected this summer.
Don’t forget the court is due for a decision on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the next few months as well, a verdict which will impact the lives of people like Scherly Gomez, a medical student, Tennessee resident and DACA recipient.
Welcome to the Wednesday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].
CRISIS BEFORE OUR EYES – One of the worst humanitarian emergencies during Syria’s nine-year war is playing out in Idlib Province in northwest Syria as close to a million residents flee the violence — and the crisis is only intensifying, Vivian Yee and Hwaida Saad report for The New York Times. “The exodus is the largest of a war that has displaced 13 million people and taken hundreds of thousands of lives, and ranks among the largest in recent history, second only to the flight of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar in 2017. With about three million residents trapped between a sealed Turkish border to the north and bombs and shells thundering up from the south and east, the crisis has the potential to grow far worse as the government battles to reclaim all of Syria.”

POLITICS OF SANCTUARY – Opening a new front in the “sanctuary cities” battle, the Trump administration has issued “subpoenas to law enforcement agencies in California, Colorado, Connecticut, New York and Oregon seeking information about nearly two dozen suspected immigration law violators,” reports Ted Hesson for Reuters. Kris Kobach, a Republican currently running for a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas, said the quiet part out loud: “I fully expect the president’s campaign [for re-election] to continue making this case.” Because, as a New York City spokeswoman told Hesson “almost all of the information was either public or already available to [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement].”

TACOS – Border towns have their challenges, but they also have their successes, like the taco industry in Brownsville, Texas, Priya Krishna writes in The New York Times. “This stretch of road has played host to many taco purveyors since the area was developed after World War II. As the competition has ramped up and the taco-eating public has grown more discerning, the collection has been winnowed down to a superlative 20 or so restaurants and stands.” In fact, Texas Monthly taco editor José R. Ralat says that “[s]ome of the greatest and most important taco places in the country are in Brownsville.”

FREEZE – The Trump administration has issued a hiring freeze at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for non-asylum officers, which means hiring is paused for all positions related to benefits and programs for documented immigrants, Eric Katz reports for Government Executive. “The decision has left applicants with offer letters in a holding pattern, unsure of their future at the agency or how long they will have to wait. The potential hires said they have heard little to clarify their status from USCIS, with officials telling them the offers remain suspended indefinitely while the agency sorts out budgetary issues.”
INTOLERABLE – A new Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) report underscores the trauma faced by families who were separated at the border, Chantal Da Silva writes for Newsweek. “After evaluating 17 adults and nine children who had been separated under the policy for an average of 60 to 69 days, with all but one child having been reunited at the time of the evaluation, physicians found that parents and children appeared to be struggling with similar ‘symptoms and behaviors consistent with trauma and its effects.’” Nearly all people evaluated were diagnosed with PTSD, with many also diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

TOUGH WORK – From Remain in Mexico to invisible walls to delayed visa processing to court backlogs, it’s tough to be an immigration lawyer in the U.S. right now. In an interview with Isabela Dias of the Texas Observer, immigration attorney Elise Harriger detailed the realities of how the Trump administration has affected her work: “I’m trying to shift my thinking to not be so dependent on winning, because that is not in my control anymore. I’m trying to remember that it is a big deal for people to have a good attorney who fights for them even if they lose. I know that they wouldn’t have a shot if not for me.” Your regular reminder to hug an immigration attorney.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS – Christian leaders are speaking out in response to President Trump’s expanded travel ban, which recently went into effect and restricts immigration from six additional countries, Samuel Smith reports for the Christian Post. “Though I recognize there is an important discussion on how to best deal with terrorists who are present dangers to free societies, we must never restrict based on religious identification,” said David Curry, president of Open Doors USA, a global persecution watchdog. Of the 13 countries included on the travel ban, six are on the organization’s World Watch List of the 50 worst countries for Christian persecution.

Thanks for reading,

Ali